Share This Story!

Seahawks stun Texans in overtime, 23-20

HOUSTON — Beleaguered Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub just raised new doubts about his ability to lead his team to its desired destination with a pick-six interception for the third consecutive game.
In a showdown the Texans safety Ed Reed dubbed a potential Super Bowl preview, the Seattle Seahawks rallied back from a 17-point halftime deficit to a stunning, 23-20 overtime victory. Steven Hauschka's 45-yard field goal with 3:19 remaining in overtime capped Houston's collapse and Seattle's first ever 4-0 start.

HOUSTON — Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub stepped to the Reliant Stadium podium long after his third consecutive game with a pick-six interception cost his team in an inexcusable, 23-20 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Welcome to another week in Houston sports talk radio hell for the quarterback reliving the same nightmare.

This time it was third-and-4 from the Seattle 41 yard-line with the Texans up 20-13 with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter.

Instead of taking a sack, Schaub lofted a pass intended for tight end Owen Daniels over blitzing safety Kam Chancellor. But Seahawks but cornerback Richard Sherman "knew it was coming'' based on practicing against the same look against the Seahawks scout team Friday.

Sherman beat Daniels to the ball and took it 58 yards for the score.

"It hurts, it hurts bad,'' a shell-shocked Schaub after his seventh consecutive game dating back to last season (including playoffs) with a pick. "I'm the quarterback of this team. I had the ball in my hands. This one hurts real bad.''

Coach Gary Kubiak partially blamed himself, saying he should have called a run on that ill-fated interception that kept alive Seattle's 17-point second-half comeback. Steven Hauschka's 45-yard field goal with 3:19 remaining in overtime gave Seattle the win.

Though third-year backup T.J. Yates and second-year pro Case Keenum played well in the preseason, Kubiak isn't considering replacing the embattled Schaub.

"No, we have a lot of things we have to fix,'' Kubiak says. "I've got to fix me. I've got to do better…

"Obviously, we have to protect the ball. But I put him in a bad situation, not running the ball there, trying to be aggressive, trying to make a play and we didn't. And it ended up killing us.''

Daniels concurred with his coach.

"I believe we've got to just run the ball there, but we run the plays that are called and we have to make good decisions,'' Daniels said. "We have Matt's back. Matt is going to make a lot of plays for us during this year.

Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, who needed six stiches on the bridge of his nose after the game, wasn't about to sack his own quarterback.

"He is going through a tough time,'' Watt said of Schaub. "People are going to come after him. But football is a team game. It is not (about) one player…"

"We are going to show up tomorrow and get every single thing we are doing wrong corrected,'' Watt said. "We have just got to finish.''

Second-year Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson took over the game in the second half, running for 46 yards with his scrambling including one for seven yards on the eight-play, 42-yard winning drive.

Wilson, who led the Seahawks to their first-ever 4-0 start in franchise history, hitting 12 of 23 passes for 123 yards and finishing with 77 yards on 10 scrambles.

Much of his damage coincided with the loss of Texans linebacker Brian Cushing to a concussion late in the third quarter. Cushing finished with team-best nine tackles and a quarterback hit.

Wilson sparked the comeback with his feet on a 14-play, 98-yard, fourth-quarter drive capped by Marshawn Lynch's 3-yard scoring run that pulled Seattle to 20-13 with 7:43 left. Wilson keyed the drive with scrambles of 24, 13, 11 and 14 yards.

"Russell was off the charts,'' coach Pete Carroll said. "You had to watch this game to see the things that he did to give us a chance.''

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Anquan Boldin (81) avoids a tackle by St. Louis Rams cornerback Cortland Finnegan (31) and avoids stepping out of bounds on the way to a 20 yard touchdown reception during the first half at the Edward Jones Dome.
Scott Rovak, USA TODAY Sports